Friday, December 12, 2008

Routine activities like grocery shopping provide the perfect opportunity for kids to learn new words and encourage early reading skills. You can show them letters on food labels and have them help with the grocery list. Hmmm...grocery list. Handwritten ones are great, but there's even a better way to make that list. Have you heard of the SmartShopper?

The SmartShopper is an electronic grocery list maker that uses voice recognition technology. The handy gadget sticks magnetically to the fridge so that grocery items can be added to the list at anytime. By simply pressing the record button and speaking the item's name, your list is easily updated, organized and always available. And, when you are ready to go shopping, the SmartShopper prints out your list, arranged into shopping categories to help make your shopping experience more efficient.

In this economy, one of the best ways to save money on groceries is to create an organized shopping list. The SmartShopper is perfect for me because it is readily available right in my kitchen and provides a fun, organized way of keeping track of my grocery items.

Here are my favorite features:• Mounts magnetically to refrigerator or also has wall-mount option • Uses four standard AA batteries (not some strange, expensive type)• Comes built with 2,500 Pre-loaded standard items in the "library"• You are easily able to add your own custom items• The coupon flagging feature marks items you want to buy using a coupon• At print-out it organizes items into categories like dairy and health & beauty• You can maintain multiple lists for different stores

Like any gadget, it does have a few quirks. The voice recognition works best if used in a quiet location without a lot of background noise. The items that are stored in the library vary. Sometimes brand names are included, like Coke and Pepsi but sometimes you must use a generic label like diapers (instead of Pampers or Huggies.) I was surprised the library didn't include a few standard items in my kitchen like freezer paper or cooking sherry (it uses the term cooking wine instead) although those were easy enough to add myself.

While the device is great as is, it would be amazing if it included a computer interface so that you could add items to the library using the computer and print lists from your computer, a cheaper way than buying the special paper rolls. One of my friends would also love to see a way for it to print pictures along with the food so that young kids could follow the list at the store. I'd also like to see rechargeable batteries included with the product or some sort of solar power used. Maybe we'll see some features like these added in the future?

This time of year Santa is making his list and checking it twice. Wonder what he'd think of the SmartShopper gadget? It's probably already on his own personal wish list! Is it on yours? What a great way to start the new year off with a little organization!

Order your SmartShopper today for only $79.99! Use the exclusive promo code: PW59391 until December 31 to receive $5 off your order. Also, all orders placed between now and December 31 will receive free ground shipping (although be sure to order before December 18, if you want the SmartShopper by Christmas).

Win it! SmartShopper has kindly offered to sponsor a giveaway. One (1) of my readers will receive their own SmartShopper!

To enter, leave a comment letting me know what you think you'd like best about SmartShopper.

• For contact purposes, if you are a non-blogger or your email is not accessible in your blog profile, please leave a valid email address within the comment section. • Contest is open to US only • Contest ends on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 11:59 PM CST.• Winner will be chosen at random

Three ways to gain extra entries (Maximum total entries is 4):1st extra entry: Follow Me! or subscribe by email or RSS reader2nd extra entry: Blog about this contest then post your link in the comment section.3rd extra entry: Follow me on twitter and tweet about the contest.

I would love the smart shopper to help keep my shopping list together. I only go grocery shopping twice a month so normally items that are written down on a piece of scrap paper early on are lost and forgotten by shopping day. This makes it frustrating when I finally need the item and it was never replenished! This would keep my shopping list updated in one place! HURRAY!

I think this is an awesome giveaway and would love one of these!! I like that it puts them in catagories because I find myself going back to different places because I forgot something on my list. It's also nice that it flags coupons which would help shopping go faster (now that I have a 3 month old, I'm all about that). My husband usually just tells me when we need something instead of writing it down, so that would really be helpful to keep us both organized there too!

This is awesome! I'd expectually like how it organizes the items by category! And that you can note that you have a coupon for that product! I'd love this because I am the queen of lists since thats the only way I actually remember anything lol. Thanks for entering me!

We all keep lists but lose them. This would be great because of the voice recognition. I have been meaning to get one of those. This has so many features. I love that it is magnetic too. If I don't have time to print out I can simply take it along and attach it to the shopping cart.

I love that it is so easy to use! I need something that I can get a list into quickly and I wouldn't lose this, so that would be great! My husband would use it, too, which makes it even better!jinglesells at gmail dot com

Maybe this would get my boys to let me know what has ran out and keep me from forgetting what i need to pick up! :D I guess what I am saying is that the thing I like best is that I think this might be easy (and interesting) enough to intrigue not only myself, but also my 13 yr old my 10 yr old and my hubby ;) Thanks for the chance to win!

I love gadgets! I like the coupon feature too and the voice recognition feature. Currently I sit down with all the ads, write down what sale items I need and then have to remember what else I need. I'm always forgetting something.

I'm always struggling to get the kids to add to the grocery list when they use the last of something... they always say they couldn't find a pen or pencil. This would be a great way to take that excuse away from them. There's nothing worse than coming home from grocery shopping only to have one of them say, "by the way, we're also out of...."

I always have a shopping list hanging on the fridge that I add items to. The worst is when I can't find a pen...and forget to add an item. With the SmartShopper, I wouldnt have to worry about locating a pen.

This SmartShopper would be great for me as I wouldn't have to worry about writing my list on the dry erase board and having my son climb on the counter and draw all over my list and I have to start over. It would save my list and print it when I need it, how great! Thanks for the chance to win!

Hello, I think these SmartShopper List Makers are fabulous. I would love to win this wonderful gadget for my husband. He keeps a pencil and paper list during the week. Invariably, he forgets to write an item down or the list gets lost!I like the wall mount option, the customizable items, coupon flagging and the print out in categories!Please add my name to your drawing.Many thanks, Cindijchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

About Me

Brimful Curiosities is a mom blog/book blog featuring reviews and posts on children's books, music, educational products, toys and more. It's home to the weekly "Full to the Brim" Kid's Book Giveaway List. Occasionally it includes non-children related product and book reviews and personal postings.